Lamar Odom

Not much new in Lamar Odom's life, other than a reality-TV star wife, a $33-million contract extension and daily games of hide-and-seek with the ever-present paparazzi. A year ago, Odom was angry when Coach Phil Jackson said the Lakers forward would be a backup instead of a starter. That's the least of his concerns now. He still has reserve status, but no longer single status after marrying Khloe Kardashian about two weeks ago, a move that shifted him from the inside pages of sports magazines to the covers of supermarket tabloids across the country.

Sportswriters and fans have proposed numerous theories for Lamar Odom's up-and-down play, but here is a new one: Odom's fondness for candy. In an essay titled "Lamar Odom, Sweet Tooth and Erratic Play," Dr. Daniel Amen writes that Odom's massive consumption of candy leads to a sugar high and then a crash, evidence of which can be seen on the basketball court.

Lamar Odom sounded frustrated and hopeful at the same time. He sounded frustrated he hasn't been able to come to terms with the Lakers on a contract. But he sounded hopeful he and the Lakers will get a deal done. At the end of the day, Odom was asked, does he expect to be back playing for the Lakers next season? "I don't know," Odom told The Times in a phone interview. "That's why there are negotiations. I don't know. Of course I hope they can get it done. "It's negotiations.

Before Lakers Coach Phil Jackson talked about his contract situation, or about the Lakers trying to repeat as NBA champions, or about the distractions that are sure to come, or about recently acquired Ron Artest, Jackson zinged Lamar Odom. Less than a minute into his news conference Friday at the team's training facility, Jackson joked about how it will be interesting to get Odom prepared after the forward marries reality TV star Khloe Kardashian on Sunday, two days before the Lakers open camp.

Is the table being set again? A week after the Lakers pulled a pair of contract offers to Lamar Odom off the table, the sides resumed talks Wednesday. The discussions were labeled productive, but there was nothing to report "at the moment," according to a source familiar with negotiations who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Lamar Odom was back. "I guess I am," he said with a shrug and a smile before Sunday's game against Indiana. Odom returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul on Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen, a mistake that cost him $120,441 in pay and a mild rebuke from Coach Phil Jackson. "There are times when he can't let things go," Jackson said. "Things don't happen right for him and he might get a refereeing call and doesn't let it go.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- It sounded like a sensible concept at the time, moving Lamar Odom to small forward when he returned from off-season shoulder surgery, the better to save wear and tear on his upper body by avoiding a season's worth of banging against power forwards. It didn't last. Odom probably will play the rest of the season at power forward, with Luke Walton or Trevor Ariza starting at small forward. Odom has been stronger on the boards in recent weeks, averaging 11.

DALLAS -- Kobe Bryant knows the triangle offense so deeply that he sometimes cuts right to the part where he gets the ball, skipping a step or two to get it in his hands. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson says he hopes Lamar Odom starts doing the same thing. Odom has struggled on offense in recent games, bottoming out with a four-point effort Friday in the Lakers' 112-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The trade deadline came and went, and Lamar Odom didn't have to worry, for once. Last year, he was rumored to be heading to New Jersey for Jason Kidd. Two years ago, it was to New York for Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Channing Frye. Three years ago, the rumor mill had Odom going just about everywhere -- to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic and to Utah for Carlos Boozer. This year?

HOUSTON -- Ready or not, Lamar Odom is the Lakers' No. 2 option again. He had been coasting along quietly, putting up substantial numbers as the third option behind Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, with the prospect of being No. 4 once Andrew Bynum returned from injury. Then came another twist of fate after another injury, and Odom was pushed back up to secondary importance.